Transaction Request TTL Mechanism for Network Fabric Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network transaction systems face challenges in ensuring timely communication and preventing duplicate transactions across large network fabrics, where transaction requests may encounter errors or congestion, leading to data inconsistencies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a time-to-live (TTL) mechanism for transaction requests and responses, where each node decrements the TTL as the request or response traverses the network, ensuring that requests are dropped or discarded if not executed within the allotted time, and allowing for time borrowing between processes to manage execution and response timelines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If transaction requests are transmitted across large network fabrics without TTL management, then communication coverage is extended, but duplicate transactions and data inconsistencies occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by assigning a time-to-live (TTL) value to each transaction request before it is transmitted across the network. This preliminary TTL assignment enables downstream nodes to automatically determine whether to process or discard the transaction based on its remaining lifetime, preventing duplicate transactions and maintaining data consistency without requiring complex post-transmission verification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical verification systems with a simpler temporal mechanism. Instead of using intricate protocols to verify transaction uniqueness and validity across the network, the system substitutes a TTL counter that automatically expires transactions after a predetermined time period, eliminating the need for complex duplicate detection and verification infrastructure.
2Loss of time
If TTL is decremented at each network node, then transaction lifespan is controlled, but network overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the time management function from the core transaction processing logic and implements it as a separate, lightweight TTL decrement operation at each network node. This extraction allows the time control mechanism to operate independently with minimal impact on the main transaction processing flow, reducing the energy overhead associated with time management while maintaining precise control over transaction lifespan.
3Reliability
If retransmission time period is extended to allow more transactions, then transaction delivery reliability improves, but duplicate transaction risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies beforehand cushioning by embedding a TTL value in each transaction request that acts as a protective buffer against duplicate processing. This pre-configured time limit ensures that even if retransmissions occur during the extended retransmission time period, any duplicate transactions will be automatically discarded by nodes that have already processed the original transaction, thus cushioning against the harmful effects of duplicates while maintaining delivery reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Example implementations relate to calculating a time to live (TTL). An example implementation includes receiving a transaction request containing a first time to live (TTL) from a requester. A second TTL for a transaction response may be computed, and a transaction response containing the second TTL may be transmitted.